05/07/2012

The feds are set to launch a multiple murder trial in Brooklyn federal court against reputed Gambino associate John Burke, and "the safety of witnesses and jurors will become an unusually high priority" as reported by Mitchel Maddux for the New York Post. According to federal prosecutors thirty years ago a relative of Burke approached a witness to the 1982 murder of Daniel Zahn for which the reputed mobster was then on trial in state court, and "the relative 'came to her house . . . and stated that she should say that she was drunk the night of the Zahn murder and that she did not remember anything." The state jury acquitted Burke for that crime although the feds now are charging it in the current case against him as murder in aid of racketeering.

Jury tampering and witness intimidation are a Gambino specialty, and the cheap tricks against the legal system have saved the sorry ass of now-deceased boss John Gotti on more than one occasion.

Burke also is charged for his alleged roles in the 1991 murder of Bruce John Gotterup and the 1996 murder of John Gebert in connection with the Gambino drug racket.

Among those slated to testify against Burke is two-time murderer and former pot dealer Peter "Bud" Zuccaro who has provided what one federal judge characterized as "extraordinary" cooperation as reported by John Marzulli for the Daily News: "he's testified at the trials of Gambino capo Dominick Pizzonia for the so-called 'Bonnie and Clyde' killings, Gambino hit man Charles Carneglia and John A. (Junior) Gotti."